The disclosures herein relate generally to computer system virus protection and, more particularly, to a BIOS-level floppy boot-sector virus prevention system.
Computer system users often transfer data between computer systems using floppy disks, which are inserted into the floppy disk drive of the computer system to which the data is to be transferred. Frequently, the floppy disk is inadvertently left in the drive after the data transfer has been effectuated. If the disk is in the drive when the computer system is subsequently rebooted, the computer system will attempt to boot from the disk. In some cases, the floppy disk will be nonbootable or, if bootable, benign. In other cases, however, the floppy disk will be both bootable and infected with a computer virus that is spread by booting a computer system from the infected disk. One way to reduce the spread of computer viruses in this manner is to ensure that the user is aware of the presence of a floppy disk in a floppy disk drive and actually intends to boot the computer system therefrom. Often, this is not the case; rather, the user has inadvertently left the disk in the drive and is made aware of its presence only after the computer system boots from it.
One solution to the above-described problem is for the user to check the floppy disk drive for the presence of a disk each time he or she boots the computer system. This xe2x80x9csolutionxe2x80x9d is of no use, however, in situations in which the computer system automatically boots or reboots itself, such as in cases where xe2x80x9cwake-on-LAN,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cwake-on-ring,xe2x80x9d and other features are implemented. In cases such as these, the user might not even be present when the computer boots itself and therefore cannot check the floppy disk drive and retrieve a potentially problematic disk therefrom before the boot process takes place.
Another solution to the problem is effectively to remove the option of booting from the floppy disk drive from the boot up process by moving the floppy disk drive to the bottom of the list of bootable devices contained in the selectable boot table of the computer system. This solution is deficient for several reasons, including the fact that a user may need to boot from a floppy disk from time to time, is not savvy enough to navigate the menus necessary to configure the computer system in this manner, and/or is prevented from doing so by corporate information systems/technology personnel.
Yet another solution to the problem is to wait until the computer system is actually infected with a virus and then use some type of third-party cleanup software to remove it. Clearly, however, preventing the problem is far preferable to curing it after it occurs.
Therefore, what is needed is a floppy boot protection system that alerts a user to the fact that the computer system is about to boot from the floppy disk drive before actually doing so, thus enabling the user to remove the floppy disk from the drive if the user does not intend the computer system to boot from the disk.
One embodiment, accordingly, provides for implementing a BIOS-level floppy boot-sector virus prevention system. To this end, a method of implementing a BIOS-level floppy boot protection system for a computer includes detecting the presence of a bootable floppy disk in a floppy disk drive of the computer. A user is queried concerning whether to boot the computer from the floppy disk. A response to the query is received from the user. If the user responds in the affirmative, the computer is booted from the floppy disk. If the user responds in the negative, the computer is booted from another bootable device connected to the computer.
A technical advantage achieved is that the floppy boot protection system ensures that the user is aware and intends that the computer system is prepared to boot from a floppy disk inserted in a floppy disk drive of the computer before booting from the floppy disk.
Another technical advantage is that the floppy boot protection system prevents a user from accidentally booting from a floppy disk that might be infected with a virus.
Yet another technical advantage achieved is that the floppy boot protection system automatically defaults to skipping the floppy disk boot if the user is inattentive and fails to respond in the affirmative to a query concerning whether to boot from the floppy disk.
Yet another technical advantage achieved is that the floppy boot protection system can be selectively enabled/disabled by the user.